Packers beat Cowboys 23-13 as defense takes over
Web StoryWatch this story in 15 seconds →Key takeaways
- Green Bay beat Dallas 23-13 at Lambeau Field. The Packers led 17-0 at half time.
- The Packers defense held Dallas to seven points for nearly the whole game. Dallas threw two interceptions.
- Green Bay is now 4-2. Dallas fell to 2-4 after a second straight loss.
Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, home of the Green Bay Packers. Photograph: Tony Webster / Wikimedia Commons
Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons
The Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 23-13 on Sunday night. The game was at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was a Week 6 game on Sunday Night Football.
Green Bay led 17-0 at half time. Dallas scored only near the end. The win gave Green Bay three wins in a row.
The story of the night was defense. Green Bay stopped Dallas again and again. Dallas has a strong offense.
But the Packers held the Cowboys to seven points for nearly the full game. The second Dallas touchdown came with 44 seconds left. By then, the game was already decided.
What happened
Green Bay started fast. The Packers drove 90 yards on the first drive. Quarterback Jordan Love threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Golden.
A touchdown is worth six points. It is the main way to score. Green Bay led 7-0.
Then the defense took over. Safety Evan Williams caught a pass from Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott. That play is called an interception.
It means the defense catches a pass meant for the offense. It stops the other team from scoring. Rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse got his first career interception soon after.
Dallas had two turnovers in the first half. Neither led to points for Dallas.
Green Bay used the good field position. Kicker Trey Smack made a 25-yard field goal. A field goal is worth three points.
Then Love ran one yard for a touchdown. Green Bay led 17-0 at half time. It was a strong first half.
Dallas woke up after the break. Running back Javonte Williams ran one yard for a touchdown. That made it 17-7.
But Green Bay answered. Smack made field goals of 44 yards and 29 yards. That pushed the lead to 23-7.
Dallas scored once more with 44 seconds left. Ryan Flournoy caught a 6-yard touchdown pass. Dallas tried for two more points after that score.
That play is called a two-point conversion. Green Bay stopped it. Dallas then tried an onside kick.
An onside kick is a short kick to win the ball back. The ball went out of bounds. Green Bay took a knee twice to end the game.
The final score was 23-13.
The stats tell the same story. Love threw for 276 yards. He threw one touchdown pass and one interception.
Golden caught six passes for 104 yards and one touchdown. But Green Bay dropped some passes too. A few drops cost the Packers more points.
Prescott threw 54 passes. He completed 34 of them. He threw two interceptions.
Green Bay pressured him 21 times. Pressure means defenders rushed at him fast. He had little time to throw.
Dallas gained only 303 total yards. The Cowboys ran the ball 15 times for just 48 yards. Star receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens caught 15 passes for 143 yards.
But they needed 29 targets to do it. A target is a pass thrown to a player.
Both teams had penalty trouble. Green Bay had 11 penalties for 96 yards. Dallas had 11 penalties for 108 yards.
A penalty moves a team back and costs field position. The flags slowed both teams down. But Green Bay's defense kept making stops.
The Packers stopped Dallas twice on fourth down late in the game. A fourth down stop means the offense fails to keep the ball.
Why it matters
Fireworks light up Lambeau Field at night. Photograph: Jeramey Jannene / Wikimedia Commons
Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons
This win keeps Green Bay rolling. The Packers started the season 1-2. Now they have won three games in a row.
They sit at 4-2. They are tied with the Bears for second place in the NFC North. The Vikings lead the division and are still undefeated.
Green Bay is right in the race.
The defense is the big reason. This was the third straight game in which Green Bay held its opponent to 14 points or fewer. According to ESPN, it is the first such streak for the Packers since 2016.
That is ten years ago. Coach Matt LaFleur praised the unit after the game.
He said, "Our defense, they did their job."
Safety Javon Bullard went further. He said, "I think we can be the best defense in the league." That is a bold claim.
But the numbers back it up so far. The Packers have nine interceptions in six games, according to ESPN. They also have 11 takeaways in total.
A takeaway is any play where the defense wins the ball back.
The win also matters because Green Bay did it without two key players. Pass rusher Micah Parsons did not play. He is still recovering from a torn left ACL.
An ACL is a knee ligament. A tear is a serious injury. He is still a few weeks away from his first game, according to ESPN.
Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper is out too. He suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in Week 4. The Achilles is a tendon above the heel.
The defense still played its best game.
Dallas, on the other hand, is in trouble. The Cowboys fell to 2-4. They have lost two games in a row.
They scored only 29 points in those two losses combined. Coach Brian Schottenheimer said the effort is there. But the mistakes keep hurting the team.
He said, "The effort is right, the fight is right, but mistakes are killing us."
The Cowboys also lost the run game. They ran the ball only 15 times. They gained just 48 yards on the ground.
Schottenheimer said that was not the plan. He did not want to throw the ball 54 times. But the Packers took an early lead.
Dallas had to chase the game. That meant more passes and fewer runs.
There is a link to Green Bay's recent past too. The Packers beat the Bears last week. That win was part of this same streak.
You can read about the Bears game in our Packers-Bears recap. The defense has now played well for three weeks in a row. The question is whether it can keep it up.
What happens next
Green Bay gets a boost soon. Running back Josh Jacobs could make his season debut this week, according to ESPN. He missed the first six games.
He was on the commissioner exempt list. That is a league list that kept him off the field. His return would help the run game.
Green Bay has had the worst run game in the league, according to ESPN. The team has not rushed for 100 yards in any game this season.
Parsons is also close to returning. Our Micah Parsons return timeline tracks his recovery step by step. If he comes back soon, the defense could get even stronger.
A strong pass rush makes life hard for every quarterback.
Dallas must fix its mistakes fast. The Cowboys play the Eagles next Monday night in Philadelphia. The Eagles are 2-4.
The game matters for both teams. The loser will fall further behind in the division race. Dallas has 11 games left.
There is still time to turn the season around. But the margin for error is now very small.
The Eagles game is also a test for the Dallas defense. Philadelphia just lost to the Panthers. You can read about that game in our Panthers beat Eagles recap.
Dallas will look for a similar result. A win in Philadelphia would steady the season. A loss would raise more questions.
For Green Bay, the goal is simple. Keep the defense strong. Cut down the penalties.
Catch the passes that hit the hands. If the Packers do that, they can stay in the race. The win over Dallas showed what this team can be.
The next few weeks will show if it can stay there.
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